72-hour visa-free stay in Beijing

[adrianlondon]

Before I find a more relevant forum I thought I'd ask here

Does anyone know whether they give the 72 hour "visa free" entry stamp even if your departing flight is more than 72 hours away? For example, if I arrive at 12:00 on Monday and my flight out is 18:00 Thursday, will I still get it? I understand that in this hypothetical case I'd need to be back at the airport "airside" 6 hours before my flight.

Another one ... is it possible to get an L visa for China ... in China? Let's say I fly to/from Taiwan via Beijing but (for whatever reason; time and cost most likely) I don't want to get the visa in Taipei. I could enter Beijing for up to 72 hours on my way to Taiwan and again up to 72 hours on my way back. But let's say I want to stay a week on my way back, or officially visit another city. Could I get a visa on my way out?

My current research leads me to believe that the first is not possible and the second is even more not possible :-) Any contrary anecdotal evidence welcome.

[BaoMiHua]

I understand that in this hypothetical case I'd need to be back at the airport "airside" 6 hours before my flight.

Whether this is otherwise feasible or not, one point to notice is that the check-in desk usually opens only 3 hours before the flight.. If same airline has multiple flights same day they might be let you check in earlier than that.

Maybe try hanging between arrival gate and immigration 6 hours before entering china, hope the holding tanks have free wifi so you can report back how it goes

[Cat Jones]

I would imagine your flight out of China would need to be within the 72 hours for them to issue a transit visa. I don't know though. Getting an L visa in China is pretty much impossible. Call the Chinese embassy in your country to find out for sure - you might need to apply for an L visa to be allowed out of the airport.

[Vandalaar]

stupid question, but you are allowed to go outside the airport during that time right? What happens if you get back there late?

[jess.ylz]

Greetings, I'm wondering if any forum members have any experience with this visa-free policy.

 

I'm planning a trip to southeast Asia this coming February and hoping to take advantage of the new policy and pay a visit to a couple friends in Beijing on the way home to Canada. It doesn't appear that there are any direct flights between Phnom Penh and Beijing, so it looks like I'll have to fly through Guangzhou (which is also parcipating in the 72h visa-free transit policy).

 

Does anyone know whether I will be allowed to apply for the 72h transit stay in Beijing if I'm transiting through Guangzhou first? I have no intention to leave the Guangzhou airport, as it's a short transfer (there is only one flight number provided by China SouThern Airlines, so I don't even know if I get to leave the plane). My concern is that I will be required to go through immigration in the Guangzhou airport and that I won't be able to continue on to Beijing make use of the policy there.

 

Thanks!

Jessica

[thedarksideofthemoon]

A friend of mine would like to do a stop over in Beijing as well - anyone has actually got a visa like this or feels like asking when he/she next time goes through the airport?

[minni]

I'd also like to know more about the visa free transit, has anyone actually done it? My visa expires next month and I'm going to a holiday trip to Japan before flying back to my home country. I was planning on doing the 72 hrs transit thing in Beijing.

 

Here's a link to one source, some questions asked here are answered, such as you need to be able to present a continuing flight ticket when applying for the visa free transit, you can not leave the city where the visa was issued, etc.

 

http://en.bcia.com.cn/server/notice/72visafree/72visafree_policy.shtml

[langxia]

Second hand information (information source is someone from my home country's embassy):

One person wanted to use the 72-visa free stay in Beijing but made a stopover in another Chinese city, she didn't leave the airport but had to go through customs in that city as it was the port of entry in China and considered as first port of entry and she was later denied to board the plane to Beijing. She had to leave the country to Hongkong.

I checked the FAQ for the visa-free stay in Beijing and it's not clear that Beijing MUST be the first port of entry or not, but I would be careful when you plan stopovers before going to your final visa-free-transit destination.

[thedarksideofthemoon]

For the 72 hour visa, Beijing must be your first entry into China and you MUST leave to another country afterwards. If you landed anywhere else in China first (except HK), you cannot get it.

[minni]

OK now I have first hand information I just entered China with a 72-hour visa-free stay. I had prepared everything from a passport picture to a visa application form, but all they checked was our continuing flight itinerary from Beijing onwards. A stamp in the passport at the passport check and that was it. Easy as pie and didn't cost anything. I entered through Beijing Capital Airport and will leave from the same airport 3 days later; and in the mean time, I can't leave Beijing municipality.

[nazreal]

Hi, 

 

So I'm wondering if I can do this and I have landed myself in the STUPIDEST of situations - namely, I MEANT to be flying to Beijing from London this Sunday, got everything ready EXCEPT my visa. 

 

Can I fly into Beijing, use 72 hour waiver, show a ticket that goes to HK, get my China visa in HK and re-enter Beijing on a HK return flight?

 

If not, I have to cancel my current London-Beijing ticket and buy the whole damn thing again whilst waiting for 'express' visa services in London. 

 

Obviously I'd rather the HK option as at least I'm in Asia and things are easier than hanging about in the UK. 

 

Please advise - I've had about 3 mini heart attacks in the last 4 hours when I literally realised the one bloody thing I'd forgotten to do is the one bloody thing that could potentially stop me from getting into China. 

 

Thanks!

[roddy]

Sounds like a bit of a panic. I think you'll be fine. For visa purposes, Hong Kong is a third country, you (I assume, due to your 地道 use of 'bloody') have a UK passport. As far as I can see you qualify for a 72-hour transit. 

[nazreal]

It is an absolute panic! Given it's currently the weekend nothing is essentially open, embassy wise.

Ok, if you're def sure I qualify then I'll get tickets to HK. Thanks souch for your input!!

[roddy]

Ha, you won't catch me being definitely sure about anything that involves Chinese visa rules and large chunks of cash. Note strategic use of 'I think' and 'as far as I can see'. However in your position I'd do what you're doing. Let us know how it goes!

[nazreal]

Hiya, yes UK passport here. Thanks for advice - its definitely made me less panicky but is it an absolute solution as I don't want to commit to a HK trip if I'm in risk of being turned away...

[nazreal]

Oh sorry I didn't know if that first message went through hence the second post. Am hastily messaging from a chinese travel agency!

[nazreal]

So after doing some crying, I decided to cancel my ticket to Beijing (SO SAD) and plan a trip in the summer. Moral of the visa story: take no risks with China, get your sh** together and be positive!

 

Thanks again, for your advice!

[abcdefg]

No need to cancel your trip. (Though it looks like you might have already done so.)

 

Flying London to Hong Kong will allow you 72 hours of visa free transit in Beijing. You can do the same thing on your way back from Hong Kong to London.

 

No visa required to enter Hong Kong for UK passport holders. You won't be turned away.

[889]

She was right to cancel.

 

If she arrives HK Thursday evening, she'll find the visa office closed on Friday April 3 for the holidays. It won't open again till the following Wednesday. Can you imagine the wait? And if they don't give express service because of the crush, she wouldn't get her passport back till the following Monday April 13 with normal four business day processing.

[roddy]

Good catch, I'd forgotten about HK having different holidays.